Cosmic Love
by Athena Blackquill
Summary: Apollo Justice x Clay Terran Ace Attorney 5: Dual Destinies and Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney spoilers Apollo visits someone important to him. (Image Credit: Tumblr user hoursago)


_Ace Attorney 5: Dual Destinies and Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney spoilers ahead_

AU where Clay survives the HAT-2 Incident, but is in a coma. Naturally, Apollo visits him every day. Planning this as a one-shot, but if there's enough interest, I could continue it.

* * *

The hospital room was colder than what was comfortable, so Apollo made sure to ask a nurse to adjust the heat in the room, if possible. She had given him a smile and told him she would do what she could, but he could sense a patronizing undertone in her words.

_Of course they think I'm crazy_, he thought to himself, returning to the room and sitting down next to the patient._No one but me thinks he'll wake up. _Apollo sighed and grabbed the man's hand, rubbing the top of it with his thumbs. "Clay, I need you now, more than ever," he said softly, reaching up to run his fingers through the dark hair Clay had always been so careful with. Apollo laughed, dejectedly. "I'm... I'm not fine."

Clay had been stabbed at the Cosmos Space Center and had nearly died; thankfully, Yuri Cosmos had called for help while Candace Arme did what she could to stop the bleeding. Unfortunately, the mixture of excessive blood loss and brain trauma from falling to the ground after carrying Solomon Starbuck to safety was enough to put him in a coma. Still, without Arme, Clay would have died, thanks to the Phantom. Even during the trial, Apollo visited every day to provide support for his best friend, hoping desperately that he would awake from his coma so that he could tell Clay the matters weighing deeply on his heart.

"Remember... remember when we were kids?" Apollo started. "When we first met. You were sitting outside, your mother had just died. I had heard about what happened and I came to sit with you as you cried. I got you to yell, as loud as you could, 'I'M CLAY TERRAN, AND I'M FINE!'" Apollo laughed, but he wasn't smiling. He was silent for a few minutes, staring at Clay's motionless hand.

"I can't believe I thought Athena did this to you..."

Apollo did his best to hold back his emotions, but they were starting to show. He glanced to the end of the bed where he had laid Clay's tattered Cosmos Space Center jacket and slammed his right hand on the bedside. "Dammit Clay!" he yelled louder than he expected to. "Wake up, would you?!"

There was no response.

"You can't do this! You have to wake up!" Apollo buried his head into his hands, resting his elbows on the bed. "There are... so many stars we need to see..." he said, choking up. So many nights Clay dragged him out to their favorite hill outside of town, Apollo jokingly complaining the entire way. They used to lay beside one another and quiz each other on various constellations, even making silly wishes whenever they saw shooting stars.

Sometimes Apollo pretended he saw a shooting star just so he could wish for Clay.

Too many memories were flooding back to Apollo's mind. The night before Apollo's bar exam, he was panicking, and Clay came over with sushi and quizzed him, rewarding him jokingly with a piece of sushi every time he got a question right, not understanding what half the material was about. Clay teased him for being overly anxious when of course he would ace this-after all, he was Apollo Justice and he was _fine_-and the two of them playfully wrestled after Apollo punched his shoulder a bit too hard. Clay reminded him of his brilliant precognitive powers after he received his bar exam results, and Apollo rolled his eyes and offered to buy dinner. Of course, Clay ended up paying, insisting that he treat his friend.

And then there was the night in high school, when Apollo had realized just how much Clay meant to him.

The two of them had taken residence at their favorite hill spot, and were watching a meteor shower-one of Clay's favorite nighttime occurrences. Of course they had had to be out there that specific night, because meteor showers didn't come very often. It didn't matter that they had an essay due the next day. Clay had said something funny, Apollo couldn't remember what, but it was probably one of his ridiculous astronomy puns, and the two chuckled over how stupid his joke was. He remembered turning his head to look at Clay and realizing just how peaceful he felt when with him, and how the night sky reflected so well in his eyes. There were moments when the two of them were together that Apollo would forget everything else, and this was becoming one of those moments. Clay had smiled at him, and Apollo had blushed and quickly looked away, back at the stars.

"One day, Clay," Apollo remembered saying, "after you go into space, they'll name a star after you."

"Oh?" Clay had responded. "I think I'd like that." Clay laughed, and Apollo realized how much he loved that sound. "But I think I'd want a star up there named after you as well, near me. You know, in the same constellation." Apollo looked at him quizzically, and Clay smiled again. "That way, I'd never be without you. Or at least not for a very very long time."

_But what now? _Apollo quipped, cynically. _Now _I'm _the one without_ you. Tears were flowing freely down his face at this point, but he wiped them away._ If you die, if I have to live one day without you in my life, without you knowing, I will live a day too long._

He couldn't give in to this, not when Clay still needed him. "You're Clay Terran, and you're fine," he mumbled into his hands. "You're... You're Clay Terran, and you're fine!" he repeated a bit louder. He stood and held Clay's face in his hands. "You're Clay Terran, and you're going to be okay. You're going to come back to me, and then..." Apollo instinctively kissed him on the forehead, his lips lingering on Clay's skin. Clay still felt alive, even though he looked otherwise. Apollo just had to keep believing in him, just as Clay had believed in him after Kristoph was arrested and he had to look for a job. Just as Clay had believed in him on those nights he questioned his ability as a lawyer. Just as Clay had believed in him every single day since that first night they met.

"You're fine," Clay had said every time. "You believe in your clients, and that's why they pull through." Apollo hoped Clay was right this time.

"Mr. Justice, sir? Visiting hours... are... over..." a nurse said, walking in slowly, taking in the scene.

Apollo jerked up and rubbed the back of his head. "Oh! Yeah, sure. Yeah. I figured it was about that time!" he laughed nervously. "I uh, I'm fine."

"Of course, sir. I'll... give you a few more minutes, but I just wanted to let you know." The nurse bowed slightly and walked out, face a little red, but not nearly as red as Apollo's.

Apollo sighed and gathered up Clay's jacket. Sliding it back over his shoulders, he took another look at Clay. "You're Clay Terran, and you will be fine," he said, flashing him a peace sign.

He could have sworn he saw Clay smile.


End file.
